Graduate school

See also

Research at the Department for Continuing Education

The Department has an active interdisciplinary research community, particularly with respect to public engagement and practitioner-based initiatives which build on the research interests of our academic staff and over 80 research students.

Knowledge into Action

Overview

Using research evidence to inform clinical care and policymaking

In the past 20 years, evidence based healthcare (EBHC) has earned its place as the dominant paradigm for informing clinical practice and policymaking. But despite a generation of research into ‘implementation science’, the gap between what we know from research evidence and what we do in the clinic, at the bedside and around the policymaking table has remained stubbornly difficult to close.

This module aims to introduce you to implementation science and related interdisciplinary perspectives on the links between research evidence, practice and policy. It has three main messages:

First, implementation problems are typically complex, messy, unique, idiosyncratic and ‘wicked’ (that is, with no clean solution). Evidence-into-practice frameworks are useful up to a point, but negotiating compromises and ‘muddling through’ may be equally key to your success.

Second, knowledge takes different forms. Whilst published research knowledge is important, so are the embodied knowledge of the experienced clinician, the local knowledge of the street-level bureaucrat and the socially shared knowledge of communities of practice. Effective strategies for implementing evidence draw on multiple forms of knowledge.

Third, whilst there are no quick fixes or universal answers, there are nevertheless some important principles that apply at different levels of intervention (individual, group, organisation, system), and implementation gets easier once you know those principles.

Lectures and seminars will cover models and tools for implementing evidence, including the popular ‘knowledge to action’ (KTA) framework (Figure 1). But it will also problematise and critique KTA (and ‘frameworks’ more generally). We will explore, for example, the tensions between explicit and tacit knowledge, the role of values and power struggles in the policymaking process and the complexities of health system change. We will also consider more collaborative (‘co-creation’) approaches to research in which the knowledge-action link might be better expressed as ‘knowledge through action’.

Practical exercises and interdisciplinary group work will help you to apply your learning in a project to improve the use of research evidence in your local workplace setting. It will not, however, give you a quick fix or a magic formula – or take the politics out of policymaking.

"This was the best module I have attended so far on the MSc programme. It has helped identify 'the gap' in my ability to transfer knowledge into action and given me some useful strategies and theory to underpin my work."

"This has been a very practical and insightful module to enlighten me about the complexities and intricacies of a very important process of translating evidence into action."

Programme details

This module is run over an eight week cycle where the first week is spent working on introductory activities using a Virtual Learning Environment, the second week is spent in Oxford for the face to face teaching week (this takes place on the dates advertised), there are then four Post-Oxford activities (delivered through the VLE) which are designed to help you write your assignment. You then have a week of personal study and you will be required to submit your assignment electronically the following week (usually on a Tuesday at 14:00 UK Local Time).

Accommodation

Accommodation is available at the Rewley House Residential Centre, within the Department for Continuing Education, in central Oxford. The comfortable, en-suite, study-bedrooms have been rated as 4-Star Campus accommodation under the Quality In Tourism scheme, and come with tea- and coffee-making facilities, free Wi-Fi access and Freeview TV. Guests can take advantage of the excellent dining facilities and common room bar, where they may relax and network with others on the programme.

IT requirements

Please ensure that you have access to a computer that meets the specifications detailed on our technical support page.

Funding

Details of funding opportunities, including grants, bursaries, loans, scholarships and benefit information are available on our financial assistance page.

Discounts

If you are an employee of the University of Oxford and have a valid University staff card you may be eligible to receive a 10% discount on the full stand-alone fee. To take advantage of this offer please submit a scan/photocopy of your staff card along with your application. Your card should be valid for a further six months after attending the course.

Tutors

Prof Trish Greenhalgh

Module Coordinator

Dr Kamal Mahtani

Module Coordinator

Kamal Mahtani is a NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in General Practice and Deputy Director at The Centre for Evidence Based Medicine.

Assessment methods

Assessment will be based on submission of a written assignment which should not exceed 4,000 words.

Academic Credit

Those wishing to take the course for credit. The University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education offers Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS) points for the course. Participants attending at least 80% of the taught course and successfully completing assessed assignments are eligible to earn credit equivalent to 20 CATS-equivalent points which may be counted towards a postgraduate qualification.

Attendance Only

This includes:

attendance at five full days of teaching by world renowned experts in evidence-based health care at the University of Oxford.

access to a dedicated online virtual learning environment prior to and during the five taught days

access to pre-course reading materials

Applicants registering as "Attendance Only" are not eligible to undertake the academic assignment offered to students on award-bearing programmes of study and will not have access to the University library resources, other than those provided by the Department for Continuing Education. Applicants cannot receive CAT (Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme) points or equivalence. Credit cannot be attributed retrospectively. CAT accreditation is required if you wish for the module to count towards a further qualification in the future.

A Certificate of Completion is issued at the end of the course.

"Attendance Only" applicants who subsequently wish to register for academic credit and complete the assignment are required to submit additional information, which must be received 1 calendar month in advance of the module start date. Please contact us for more information.

Application

We strongly recommend that you download and save files before completing to ensure that all your changes are saved.

This course requires you to complete the application form and submit along with a copy of your CV. If you are applying to take this course for academic credit you will also need to complete section two of the reference form and forward it to your referee for completion. Please note that if you are not applying to take the course for academic credit then you do not need to submit a reference.

Please ensure you read the guidance notes before completing the application form, as any errors resulting from failure to do so may delay your application.